Entertainment desk
< April 4	<< Mar \| April \| May >>	April 6 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Entertainment Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

April 5

How to pick out most visually stunning Blu Ray movies?

I have just gotten a Blu Ray player and am very impressed by the visual quality of the Hobbit. I am looking for visually impressive movies (Fifth Element, and Elizabeth come to mind, as well as Full Metal Jacket, and The Skin I Live In, or maybe Johnny Guitar) and have searched Amazon for the highest rated Blu Rays, but I am getting things like Breaking Bad and Justified which are great TV series as dramas, but not exactly cinematic, and To Kill a Mockingbird and It's a Wonderful Life, which are classic films, but hardly ones that show off the potential of Blu Ray. How can I get some good recommendations on Blu Ray films that will show me the quaity of the medium? And, as a follow up, is a remastered or totally work necessary for a high quality Blu Ray, or are analog films on 70mm of the same high-def quality? Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 00:46, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Check out List of Criterion Collection DVD and Blu-ray releases. Some of the more visually stunning on that list available on Blu-ray include Koyaanisqatsi, The Thin Red Line (1998 film), The Last Emperor, Mystery Train (film), The Darjeeling Limited, The Leopard (1963 film), Brazil (film), and many others. I specifically chose only color films but black and white films also can look great on Blu-ray with a good HDTV. D Monack (talk) 03:24, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I wouldn't count out TV series just yet. For example, Breaking Bad is filmed on 35 mm, which is how movies that still use film are shot. New Mexico looks fantastic in that mode. Otherwise, any Pixar film looks great. Mingmingla (talk) 03:39, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

A number of Bluray enthusiast sites and forums comment on the visual quality of releases. In the forum sections, recommendations of suitable Blurays are a common question. (Or at least this was the case last time I looked 2-3 years ago.) See e.g. [1] [2] [3] Some 70mm films are Bluray releases noted for their visual quality, e.g. Baraka (film), although these are usually remastered ones. Nil Einne (talk) 04:27, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, those links give me quite a few good recommendations. Unfortunately I have no good weed connection, so Koyaanisqatsi is out as too plotless. And although Breaking Bad lists in my top five TV shows ever, I am not sure how it would be better in high def. But there are some excellent leads here. And I have to say I am surprised AVS rates Rocky Horror so high. μηδείς (talk) 17:56, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Not a surprise if they have a better weed connection than you... --Jayron32 20:37, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

It seems to be a technical rating for the quality of the remastered Blu Ray, not a rating of the plot of the film itself. In any case, I do love the music. Those were fun days doing the stage show at the midnight theater. (Wipe that ass off your chin!) I have always had a thing for Susan Sarandon. Maybe I should get The Hunger? Deneuve et Lakme.... μηδείς (talk) 21:00, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The best for visual quality that I've seen was Planet Earth (TV series), the David Attenborough documentary. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 08:33, 6 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I ordered that documentary about six hours before you suggested it! μηδείς (talk) 15:13, 6 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I know nothing about Blu Ray, but pretty much any Terry Gilliam film is visually-arresting. 12 Monkeys sticks in my mind. You might also like to trawl through the list of Academy Award winners for cinematography, for films that film cognoscenti have voted for as being visually arresting. --Dweller (talk) 21:24, 6 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Hilarious! I just bought 12 Monkeys two and a half hours before you posted that. Some sort of time travel stuff going on, apparently. μηδείς (talk) 21:40, 6 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Lots of good suggestions here. These might not be your cup of tea but I will mention them anyway. It might be counter-intuitive to think that a black and white film could be improved by bluray but Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and High and Low are worth catching - the updating of the subtitles (older releases had anachronisms and poor translations stretching back to the 1950's) is another plus. Kubrick's Barry Lyndon is visually and musically arresting (though most find the story slow) the previous VHS and DVD releases were flawed but the Bluray comes as close having seen it in the theater as anything I've seen. The Coen brothers films look even better on bluray. For TV the bluray set for Lost comes close to making Hawaii look better than it does in real life. Enjoy! MarnetteD | Talk 21:49, 6 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, it seems interesting that my tastes largely run along what has been suggested, Almodovar, Hitchcok, Lean, the Coens, Kubrick, Gilliam, Kurosawa.... B/W and subtitles don't bother me. Basically, I will eventually buy everything that I don't already own on DVD in Blu Ray. I was bored by Barry Lindo when I saw it 27 years ago--but if I can get it cheap it might be a good choice. The only film I do already own that I might buy right away in Blu Ray is The Fifth Element, although that doesn't get the greatest ratings for transfer quality. I am dissapointed V, Watchmen, and 300 don't get the best ratings either. Oh, and I suppose Crouching Tiger, Hero, and House of Flying Daggers. Red Cliff, which I haven't already seen, is on its way. Thanks for the help. μηδείς (talk) 23:18, 6 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Delroy Lindo meets Barry Lyndon? -- Jack of Oz ^[Talk] 23:34, 6 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Always assumed he was American. μηδείς (talk) 00:28, 7 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

For the record, the Donnie Darko Blu Ray is about the same or worse quality than a VHS. μηδείς (talk) 00:30, 7 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Slang

I have never seen a Michael Bay-film. So, what do the slang Its like a Michael Bay-film mean? I often see it in youtube comments. --89.249.2.53 (talk) 07:13, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The first sentence of our Michael Bay article would seem to answer your question.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 07:24, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I think you mean second sentence. But I would agree. Bay's films are often stereotypical "guy" films with lots of special effects, lots of explosions, lots of guys saving the day, and usually one (and only one) main female character who is incredibly attractive and is in love with the lead male character. Dismas|^(talk) 10:16, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The movie The Rock starring Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery is probably the model Michael Bay film. The film synopsis is basically "Men with manly job titles driving manly vehicles and doing manly things while stuff explodes", which is kinda what every Michael Bay film is. They tend to be commercially successful and critically hated, I only recommend The Rock as it was one of the few Michael Bay films that critics liked. --Jayron32 12:51, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Manchester United F.C. 2012-13 uniform

I've seen Manchester United wear a uniform that is similar to their home uniform, but the shorts are black. I've only seen them wear these in away games. Are these uni's home, or away, or alternate uniforms? WWEWizard2 (talk) 13:58, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Man U.'s three main kits are shown at the Wikipedia article titled Manchester United F.C., there is no Red/Black combo. The home kit is Red over White, the away kit is White w/red trim over black, and the third kit is an alternating blue/black over shorts. Searching Google Images, I cannot locate any Red/Black kit they have worn. Could you link to the picture you saw of this, or give the approximate date of the game so we can search better? Occasionally you find some Google blogs where someone invents such a combination, or there seems to be some video games that allow you to create such a kit, but I can't find any games where such a kit was actually worn. --Jayron32 17:01, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Football teams often, even when not changing to their full away kit, will change shorts and socks so that no one part of the kit clashes. Whether this is to avoid confusion, to sell more kit or just fashion, I couldn't say. For an example Jayron see [[4]] (Man U Swansea).90.196.111.56 (talk) 19:32, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Well, there you go! --Jayron32 20:35, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Mostly it's to avoid clashes with opposition kit. The "home" and "away" and "third" kit is somewhat arbitrary, but a reasonable rule of thumb is that "at home" (i.e. at Old Trafford), Man Utd will wear red shirts, white shorts, red socks. "Away", they'll wear whatever goes. I remember that Norwich City F.C. had a deal with Proton who own Lotus. Norwich are unlikely to need to change kit because they wear canary yellow and green (not a common kit in the UK), they had the "Proton" branding most weeks, but had a deal to wear to the much more prestigious "Lotus" branded kit "a minimum of seven times" that season. The Rambling Man (talk) 21:15, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Here's another one from the local derby in December 2012, and yet another one against QPR a couple of weeks ago. Alansplodge (talk) 23:25, 6 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Categories of French games

What are the categories in the French Canadian game shows Prive de sens and L'Union de la force? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.53.229.158 (talk) 15:24, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Start here. The Rambling Man (talk) 21:18, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Music rhythm question

Sorry if I don't have the vocabulary to ask this question so that it makes sense.

In the Bruno Mars song "When I Was Your Man", the lyrics go:

I should have bought you flowers

and held your hand

Should have gave you all my hours

when I had the chance

Take you to every party

cause all you wanted to do was dance

Is there a term for when the rhythm changes like it does in that last line? RNealK (talk) 19:40, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

If it was much longer than the others, I'd say it was an Alexandrine, but it's not that much longer. --TammyMoet (talk) 20:22, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

iTunes conversion

Since its founder's death, Apple has gone rapidly downhill. Now I'm trying to distance myself from everything associated with them, but I've purchased a lot of music on the iTunes Store and iTunes songs play on Apple devices alone. Is there a way to convert iTunes songs to a different music player? Theskinnytypist (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 20:30, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Depends on whether the items you bought were DRM'ed. If so, then no, unless you're prepared to break the law. If not, then it's up to you. But you should still pay heed to the agreement you made with iTunes when you bought the product. The Rambling Man (talk) 21:17, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Is there also a copy on your PC, or is it strictly on your iPhone or whatever? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:15, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I'd contest the "rapidly downhill" comment, but that's a bit off-topic.

Most of Apple's catalog is now free of DRM, so it should play on virtually any music player built in the last 5-10 years or so. AAC is a pretty standard music format now. You may want to go into iTunes and make sure your files aren't listed as "Protected" when you do a right-click and select Get Info on the track. If they are, you'll want to re-download them to get the non-protected ones. I have maybe a dozen protected tracks in my collection, versus several hundred that are not.

Now, you can get the protection off those remaining tracks, but it involves downloading third-party software that I personally wouldn't trust on my system. There are others that are safer, but take a lot more effort to use. — The Hand That Feeds You:^Bite 21:24, 6 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The easy (and legal) way is to burn your iTunes purchases to a CD and then download them from that CD as an MP3 (not you have to burn it as an audio CD). Obviously if you've got 100s of songs that's not necessarily feasible. You can also apparently play AAC files on other media players (http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/how_to_play_aac_files.cfm) - it doesn't mention anything about DRM though so not sure if that'll cause an issue. ny156uk (talk) 08:07, 7 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]